The Shrine Knights are on the fast track toward the state finals. Nineteen Shrine athletes advanced to the upcoming championship meet by finishing first or second in their events last weekend at Webberville, where the girls won the regional team title and the boys finished third.
“Our main focus every season is to do well at regionals,” Head Coach Wright Wilson said. “If you have a good regional meet, you have a good season. The girls accomplished their top goal of the year and getting so many qualifiers for the state meet is a big deal.”
Shrine’s girls accumulated 151½ points to lead the 14-team field, finishing 27 ahead of runner-up Morrice. Auburn Hills Oakland Christian (92), Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest (67) and Birmingham Roeper (48) rounded out the top five.
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“It wasn’t easy,” Wilson said. “Morrice has a fine program and had won this regional the past four years, so we knew they were the team to beat. They were strong in field events and got a lot of points there, and we had to work up from a deficit all day. We were never announced as the leaders until the final scores were totaled up, but we remained confident and competitive, and it all worked out.”
Shrine’s boys, with 97 points, finished behind Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes (125) and Southfield Christian (114). Roeper (60) and Oakland Christian (58) were next in line.
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The Knights won four individual events and four relays. Clare Romano had three of those victories, in the high jump (4’9”), high hurdles (16.70) and low hurdles (49.60). Connor Lockman won the 800-meter run (2:05.0).
In the relays, Shrine got firsts from Teresa Wiencko, Irene Dooley, Reilly Carr and Grace Nagle in the 4x800 (10:59.8); Julia Liggett, Irene Peaslee, Autumn Washington and Taylor Kilgore in the 4x200 (1:53.9); N’Tia Laird, Kilgore, Ari Cascardo and Liggett in the 4x100 (52.70); and Matt Arce, Matt Nadai, Dan Tresnak and Lockman in the 4x400 (3:37.50).
Other Knights qualifying for state include Kenny Miller, Brad Chaklos, Kyle Pawloski and Joe Romano. Miller was runner-up in shot put, while Chaklos, Pawloski and Romano contributed to second-place relay finishes.
The Division 4 state finals will be held June 1 at Eagle Stadium in Hudsonville. Shrine has had at least one state qualifier in each season since 1988. In addition, Shrine’s girls accepted a bid to the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association’s “Team State” meet, Saturday at Gobles.
